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Library 

OF  THE 

University  of  NortK  Carolina 

This  book  was  presented  by  the  family 
of  the  late 

KEMP  PLUMMER  BATTLE,  '49 

President  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
from  1876  to  1890 


d970,U.S8I 


ADDRESS 

BY 

HON.  CHARLES  M.  STEDMAN 

OF   NORTH    CAROLINA 


Delivered  at  Memorial  Hall,  District  of  Columbia,  by 
request  of  the  Confederate  Veterans'  Asso- 
ciation, Tuesday,  March  21,  1916 


[Printed  in  the  Congressional  Record 
of  March  25,  1916] 


34336—15341 


WASHINGTON 
191G 


ADDRESS 

BY 

HON.   CHAKLES    M.   STEDMAN. 


Mr.  WEBB.  Mr.  Speaker,  under  the  leave  granted  to  me  to 
extend  my  remarks  in  the  Recobd  I  include  an  address  of  my 
colleague  [Mr.  Stedman]  delivered  on  the  21st  of  March,  1916, 
at  Confederate  Memorial  Hall,  District  of  Columbia,  by  re- 
quest of  the  Confederate  Veterans'  Association  of  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

The  address  is  as  follows: 

Mr.  STEDMAN.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  comrades  :  When  I  re- 
ceived from  the  Confederate  Veterans'  Association  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  an  invitation  to  deliver  an  address  here  to-night,  it 
could  not  be  aught  but  a  very  great  pleasure  to  me  to  accept.  It 
came  to  me  from  a  camp  named  in  honor  of  one  whom  it  was  my 
high  privilege  to  know,  to  whose  division  I  belonged  in  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  and  for  whom  I  had  profound  respect  and 
admiration.  Maj.  Gen.  Harry  Heth,  by  his  example  and  con- 
duct upon  every  field,  inspired  his  men  with  those  high  senti- 
ments and  great  qualities  which  will  perpetuate  the  fame  of  the 
Confederate  soldier  in  ages  yet  to  come.  It  is  an  occasion 
which  appeals  to  the  hearts  of  all  who  admire  moral  and  per- 
sonal heroism  as  exemplified  by  its  greatest  exponents.  It  is 
a  monthly  reunion  of  Confederate  soldiers,  a  small  remnant  of 
those  who  have  preceded  us  by  a  day's  march  along  the  route 
of  the  innumerable  caravan — the  mighty  dead — not  inappro- 
priately called  the  deathless  dead — for  though  they  have  yielded 
in  the  order  of  nature  to  the  conquerer  of  humanity,  they  are 
not  dead  but  sleeping.  Their  lives  are  still  continued  in  their 
uttered  thoughts — their  spoken  words — in  their  undying  acts 
and  unfading  example.  Their  history  shall  ever  be  kept  alive, 
that  invoked  by  the  brightness  of  its  record,  the  pages  of  the 
book  will  be  kept  still  illuminated,  that  at  some  future  day  yet 
34336—15341  3 


farther  down  the  aisles  of  time,  the  youth  of  that  generation 
may  be  directed  to  a  still  unfailing  and  continuous  panorama 
without  tarnish  or  blemish. 

The  historian  in  ages  far  remote  from  the  era  in  which  we 
live  will  record  the  glories  of  this  great  Republic.  He  will 
gild  his  pages  with  its  achievements  in  war  and  in  peace.  The 
reader  will  linger  long  over  their  •  recital.  The  description  of 
this  beautiful  and  attractive  Capitol  will  not  fail  to  charm  and 
delight  him.  He  will  be  lost  in  admiration  and  wonder  when 
he  learns  that  within  its  limits,  more  than  half  a  century  after 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  which  shook  the  continent  to  its 
foundations,  there  was  a  Confederate  camp  where  representa- 
tives of  every  section  of  our  common  country  met  in  friendly 
intercourse,  proclaiming  to  the  world  the  complete  unity  of 
sentiment  existing  everywhere  throughout  this  broad  land,  and 
foretelling  its  grandeur  and  enduring  greatness  through  all  the 
ages  to  come. 

I  have  been  requested  to  adopt  as  the  theme  of  my  discourse 
"  North  Carolina  in  the  War.  between  the,  States."  A  subject  so 
splendid  in  itself,  so  replete  with  great  and  heroic  action, 
seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of  any  speaker.  When  I  reflect  upon 
the  self-denial  and  the  unshaken  fortitude  of  the  people  of 
North  Carolina  during  that  unhappy  period,  when  the  splendid 
and  unexcelled  achievements  of  North  Carolina  soldiers  .during 
that  same  era  pass  in  review  before  my  mental  vision,  I  can  but 
feel  my  inadequacy  to  so  great  an  undertaking. 

If  aught  I  say  shall  seem  to  detract  in  the  slightest  degree 
from  the  merit  of  any  Confederate  soldier  from  any  State  or 
from  my  loyalty  to  this  great  Republic,  whose  flag  protects  and 
shields  all  its  citizens,  I  ask  that  you  do  not  so  construe  my 
words,  but  ascribe  them  to  the  enthusiasm  which  characterizes 
all  the  children  of  North  Carolina  for  her  great  name.  The 
character  and  reputation  of  every  Confederate  soldier  will  ever 
be  near  to  my  heart,  and  the  glory  and  honor  of  our  common 
country  will  ever  command  my  sincere  and  unchanging  fealty. 

The  part  acted  by  North  Carolina  in  the  greatest  drama  of 
modern  times — the  War  between  the  States — history  will  preserve 
without  blemish  upon  its  pages.  It  has  long  since  passed  be- 
3433G— 15341 


yond  the  pale  of  legitimate  controversy  that  in  the  number  of 
troops  furnished  to  the  Southern  Confederacy,  in  proportion  to 
its  white  population,  and  in  the  losses  sustained  by  those  troops, 
she  stands  first  of  all  the  States  which  made  up  that  galaxy  of 
great  names. 

It  is  likewise  true  that  no  troops  in  any  corps  of  the  Con- 
federate Army  were  more  thoroughly  equipped  and  provided  for 
in  every  way  necessary  to  their  efficiency  and  comfort,  both  as 
to  arms,  food,  and  clothing,  than  were  the  soldiers  from  North 
Carolina. 

In  considering  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by  North  Caro- 
lina to  the  Confederate  Army,  her  attachment  to  the  Union  of 
the  States  will  ever  demand  your  consideration  and  attention, 
and  her  loyalty  to  her  sister  States  of  the  Confederacy  when 
once  her  faith  was  pledged,  will  claim  the  admiration  of  all 
who  have  an  honest  pride  in  national  honor,  wherever  it  may 
be  found.  North  Carolina  was  next  to  the  last  State  to  secede 
from  the  Union,  and  in  February,  1861,  voted  against  secession 
by  more  than  30,000  majority ;  yet  with  a  white  population  of 
629,942,  and  a  military  population  of  115,369,  being  one-ninth  of 
the  military  population  of  the  11  seceded  States,  she  sent  to  the 
Confederate  Army  125,000  men,  one-fifth  of  its  entire  enroll- 
ment, which  was  600,000,  according  to  the  accepted  estimate 
approved  by  Gen.  Cooper,  the  adjutant  general  of  the  Con- 
federacy. Maj.  A.  Gordon,  who  was  on  the  staff  of  the  adjutant 
general  of  North  Carolina,  and  who  was  thoroughly  conversant 
with  the  organization  of  the  North  Carolina  troops,  estimates 
her  contribution  to  the  Confederate  Army  at  127,000.  Gov. 
Vance,  after  a  thorough  examination  of  the  records  of  the 
adjutant  general's  office,  stated  the  number  to  be  125,000,  and 
Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe,  who,  at  the  request  of  the  State  Literary  and 
Historical  Association  of  North  Carolina,  gave  to  the  consider- 
ation of  this  subject  careful  research,  adopted  the  figures  given 
by  Gov.  Vance,  and  in  his  report  says  they  are  as  correct  as  it 
is  possible  to  make  them.  Lieut.  Gen.  Stephen  D.  Lee,  in  an 
address  delivered  at  Asheville,  N.  C,  stated  North  Carolina 
furnished  22,942  more  troops  than  any  other  State.  Of  the 
troops  furnished  to  the  Confederate  Army  by  North  Carolina, 
34336—15341 


6 

four  regiments  of  infantry  and  one  of  cavalry  were  sent  to  the 
Army  of  Tennessee. 

Of  the  soldiers  present  for  duty,  North  Carolina  had  a  larger 
proportion  than  naturally  fell  to  her  lot.  They  were  ever  ready 
in  camp  or  upon  the  field  of  battle.  Of  the  92  regiments  which 
assailed  and  defeated  the  right  flank  of  McClellan's  army  in 
front  of  Richmond,  46  were  from  North  Carolina.  Of  the  16 
brigades  engaged  in  the  first  day's  fight  at  Gettysburg,  7  were 
from  North  Carolina. 

The  First  North  Carolina  Regiment,  commanded  by  Col.  D.  H. 
Hill,  later  a  lieutenant  general,  was  the  first  regiment  sent  by 
the  government  to  Yorktown  and  the  first  to  arrive  at  Bethel. 
Over  S00  of  the  1,200  present  when  the  action  commenced  were 
from  North  Carolina. 

The  first  Confederate  soldier  killed  in  battle  was  Henry  L. 
Wyatt,  of  the  Edgecombe  Guards,  Company  A  of  that  regiment, 
who  fell  at  Bethel  on  the  10th  of  June,  1861. 

At  Reams  Station,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1864,  after  a 
previous  assault  by  other  troops  had  failed,  the  three  North 
Carolina  brigades  of  Cooke,  Lane,  and  MacRae,  in  number  less 
than  2,000  men,  drove  the  Federal  troops  from  the  field,  captur- 
ing their  breastworks,  with  2,150  prisoners,  3,100  stands  of 
small  arms,  12  stands  of  colors,  9  guns  and  caissons.  The 
result  of  this  brilliant  engagement  was  hailed  with  great  re- 
joicing throughout  the  South  and  shed  a  declining  luster  upon 
the  Confederate  battle  flag,  upon  which  the  sun  of  victory  was 
about  to  go  down  forever.  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee  publicly  and  re- 
peatedly stated  that  not  only  North  Carolina  but  the  wbole 
Confederacy  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Lane's,  Cooke's,  and 
MacRae's  brigades  which  could  never  be  repaid.  He  also 
wrote  to  Gov.  Vance,  expressing  his  high  appreciation  of  their 
services.     From  his  letter  I  make  this  extract : 

Headquarters  Army  Northern  Virginia, 

August  29,  186}. 
His  Excellency  Z.  B.  Vance, 

Governor  of  North  Carolina,  Raleigh,  N.  C: 
I   have  frequently   been   called   upon  to  mention   the  services   of  the 
North  Carolina  soldiers  in  this  army,  but  their  gallantry  and  conduct 
were  never  more  deserving  of  admiration   than  in  the  engagement  at 
Reams  Station  on  the  25th  ultimo. 
3433G— 15341 


The  brigades  of  Gen9.  Cooke,  MacRae,  and  Lane,  the  last  under  the 
temporary  command  of  Gen.  Conner,  advanced  through  a  thick  abatis 
of  felled  trees,  under  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery,  and  car- 
ried the  enemy's  works  with  a  steady  courage  that  elicited  the  warm 
commendation  of  their  corps  and  division  commanders  and  the  admira- 
tion of  the  army. 

On  the  same  occasion  the  brigade  of  Gen.  Barrlnger  bore  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  operations  of  the  cavalry,  which  were  no  less  dis- 
tinguished for  boldness  and  efficiency  than  those  of  the  infantry. 

If  the  men  who  remain  in  North  Carolina  share  the  spirit  of  those 
they  have  sent  to  the  field,  as  I  doubt  not  that  they  do,  her  defense 
may  securely  be  trusted  in  their  hands. 

I  am,  with  great  respect, 
Scur  obendient  servant, 

R.  E.  Lee,  General. 

The  regiments  from  North  Carolina  engaged  in  this  battle 
again  illustrated  those  high  qualities  which  will  perpetuate  the 
name  and  fame  of  the  Confederate  soldier  in  years  to  come. 
Unshaken  by  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  and  the  disaster  at  Gettys- 
burg, undismayed  amidst  the  general  gloom  which  was  settling 
upon  the  fortunes  of  the  South,  they  exhibited  the  same  en- 
thusiasm and  valor  which  had  marked  their  conduct  upon  every 
field  where  they  stood  for  the  honor,  glory,  and  renown  of  their 
State. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Confederate  infantry  who  were  en- 
gaged in  the  last  battle  fought  at  Appomattox  were  from  North 
Carolina.  They  were  commanded  by  Maj.  Gen.  Bryan  Grimes, 
a  North  Carolinian. 

The  last  charge  made  and  the  last  volley  fired  at  Appomattox 
was  by  a  North  Carolina  brigade,  comm  inded  by  Gen.  W.  11. 
Cox,  of  North  Carolina. 

The  last  capture  of  can  on  by  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
was  made  by  Roberts  Brigade  of  North  Carolina  cavalry. 

No  State  stacked  so  many  muskets  at  Appomattox  as  did 
North  Carolina. 

These  facts  are  beyond  dispute.  The  accuracy  of  the  first  two 
just  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  fight  at  Appomattox  has 
been  established  by  a  statement  made  in  writing  in  the  year  1879 
by  Gen.  Grimes,  which  will  be  found  in  volume  11  of  Moore's 
History  of  North  Carolina,  and  which  has  never  been  contra- 
dicted. The  statement  of  Gen.  Grimes  is  corroborated  by  a 
statement  made  by  Gen.  William  R.  Cox,  which  wa.  also  pub- 
34336—15341 


8 

lislied  during  the  same  year  in  volume  11  of  Moore's  History  of 
North  Carolina.  If  more  evidence  could  possibly  be  needed,  it  is 
furnished  by  the  statements  of  Brig.  Gen.  W.  L.  London,  of  the 
Second  Brigade  in  the  North  Carolina  division  of  the  United 
Confederate  Veterans,  who  was  serving  on  Gen.  Grimes's  staff 
on  the  morning  of  the  surrender,  and  of  Hon.  Henry  A.  London, 
of  the  Thirty-second  North  Carolina  Begiment,  who  carried  the 
last  orders  at  Appomattox.  Both  Gen.  W.  L.  London  and  Hon. 
Henry  A.  London  are  now  living  in  Pittsboro,  N.  C,  model 
examples  of  the  highest  order  of  citizenship  represented  by  Con- 
federate soldiers,  equally  distinguished  in  war  and  peace. 

Wherever  the  flag  of  North  Carolina  floated  on  land  or  sea  it 
was  without  tarnish,  the  emblem  of  honor,  of  courage,  and  un- 
changing fortitude  which  endured  to  the  end. 

The  Shenandoah,  commanded  by  James  Iredell  Waddell,  a 
North  Carolinian,  flew  the  Confederate  battle  flag  at  its  mast- 
head more  than  six  months  after  Gen.  Lee's  surrender. 

Shall  their  immortality  be  reckoned  by  their  blocd?  Forty 
thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  soldiers  from  North  Caro- 
lina gave  their  lives  to  the  Confederacy,  more  than  one-third  of 
her  entire  military  population,  and  a  loss  more  than  double  in 
percentage  than  that  sustained  by  the  soldiers  from  any  other 
State. 

The  entire  Confederate  loss  during  the  Civil  War,  killed  on 
the  battle  field  and  died  of  wounds,  was  74,524.  The  loss  of 
North  Carolina  soldiers  was  19,763,  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
whole. 

Of  the  10  regiments  of  either  side  which  sustained  the  heaviest 
loss  in  any  one  engagement  during  the  war  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Tennessee,  Illinois,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  fur- 
nished one  each,  and  North  Carolina  furnished  three. 

The  Confederate  loss  at  Gettysburg  was  2,592  killed  and  12,707 
wounded.  Of  the  killed  770  were  from  North  Carolina,  more 
than  one-fourth. 

Wherever  the  tide  of  battle  was  strongest  and  the  harvest  of 
death  greatest  on  that  field  of  carnage,  there  could  be  seen  the 
battle  flag  of  North  Carolina.    Her  dead  sons  were  found  far  up 
its  blood-stained  slopes. 
34330—15341 


The  three  brigades  at.  Gettysburg  suffering  the  heaviest  loss 
were  Pettigrew's  from  North  Carolina,  with  190  killed ;  Davis's 
from  Mississippi — composed  of  three  regiments  from  Mississippi 
and  one  regiment  from  North  Carolina — with  ISO  killed; 
Daniels's  from  North  Carolina,  with  1G5  killed. 

No  brigade  in  Pickett's  division,  whose  laurels  won  upon  that 
field  I  trust  may  grow  brighter  with  each  revolving  year,  suf- 
fered so  great  a  loss  as  the  Twenty-sixth  North  Carolina  Regi- 
ment. Its  loss  was  SG  killed  and  502  wounded,  the  largest 
sustained  by  any  regiment  on  either  side  during  the  Civil  War. 
Company  F  of  that  regiment,  with  3  officers  and  84  men,  lost 
every  officer  and  83  of  the  84  men  in  killed  and  wounded. 
Thirteen  standard  bearers  of  the  regiment  were  shot  down. 
Upon  that  same  field  one  company  in  the  Eleventh  North  Caro- 
lina Regiment  lost  2  of  its  3  officers  killed  and  34  of  3S  men 
killed  or  wounded.  The  color  company  of  the  Thirty-eighth 
North  Carolina  Regiment  had  every  man  either  killed  or 
wounded. 

At  Sharpsburg  the  Third  North  Carolina  Regiment  lost  330  in 
killed  and  wounded  of  520  men  which  it  carried  into  action, 
and  upon  that  field  Company  C  of  the  Fourteenth  North  Caro- 
lina Regiment  lost  every  man,  either  killed  or  wounded.  At 
Chancellorsville  the  same  company,  which  carried  into  the  fight 
43  men,  lost  every  one  in  killed  or  wounded  but  1. 

The  charge  of  the  Fifth  North  Carolina  Regiment  at  Wil- 
liamsburg ranks  in  military  history  with  that  of  the  Light 
Brigade  at  Balaklava.  The  regiment  lost  197  in  killed  and 
wounded  of  240  men  which  it  carried  into  action.  That  charge 
gave  to  immortality  its  illustrious  commander,  Col.  D.  K. 
MacRae. 

At  Seven  Pines  the  Fourth  North  Carolina  Regiment  went 
into  the  fight  with  25  officers  and  520  noncommissioned  officers 
and  men  and  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  every  officer  and  462 
men.  At  Bristoe  Station  the  Twenty-seventh  North  Carolina 
Regiment  lost  291  of  42G  men  in  less  than  half  an  hour. 

The  four  regiments  of  North  Carolina  infantry — the  Twenty- 
ninth,  the  Thirty-ninth,  the  Fifty-eighth,  and  the  Sixtieth — and 
the  Sixth  Regiment  of  North  Carolina  Cavalry,  upon  the  field 
34336—15341 


10 

of  Chicknmauga,  rivaled  the  deeds  of  their  brothers  in  the  east 
and  linked  their  names  forever  with  imperishable  renown.  It 
has  been  established  by  the  highest  and  most  impartial  testi- 
mony that  "  the  point  where  the  topmost  wave  of  the  tide  of 
southern  battle  broke  nearest  to  the  unbroken  line  of  Thomas's 
defense "  was  reached  by  the  Fifty-eighth  North  Carolina 
Infantry. 

This  was  the  unanimous  report  made  by  five  commissioners 
appointed  by  Gov.  Carr,  of  North  Carolina,  to  locate  the  posi- 
tion of  the  North  Carolina  regiments  upon  the  field  of  Chieka- 
mauga. One  of  the  commissioners  was  an  officer  of  high  repu- 
tation in  the  Federal  Army  who  afterwards  made  his  home  in 
North  Carolina  and  won  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  all  who 
knew  him.     I  allude  to  Judge  Clinton  A.  Cilley. 

When  stating  the  exceptionally  great  losses  sustained  by  the 
troops  from  North  Carolina  there  is  no  intention  to  assert  that 
they  were  braver  or  better  than  those  of  any  of  her  sister 
States.  The  soldier  from  North  Carolina  desires  no  praise,  no 
laudation,  no  eulogy,  at  the  expense  of  his  brother  Confederate 
soldier.  The  fortune  of  battle  on  many  different  fields  fur- 
nished North  Carolina  soldiers  the  opportunity  for  their  great 
achievements,  and  they  ever  proved  themselves  to  be  equal  to 
the  occasion. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  writer  that  the  qualities  which  dis- 
tinguished the  soldier  from  North  Carolina  were  like  unto  tbose 
which  made  the  legions  of  Julius  Csesar  famous. 

Lieut.  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill,  when  asked  what  troops  he  preferred 

to  command,  replied : 

Unquestionably  North  Carolinians  ;  not  that  they  are  braver  where 
all  are  brave,  but  brave  as  the  bravest ;  they  are  the  most  obedient  to 
command. 

To  tins  trait  of  character,  obedience  to  orders,  many  have 
ascribed  their  preeminence. 

Without  underestimating  this  great  quality  in  a  soldier,  it 
will  be  found  upon  scrutiny  that  a  higher,  nobler,  and  more 
exalted  virtue  than  even  the  spirit  of  obedience  to  orders  gave 
to  the  Confederate  soldier,  from  whatever  State  he  came,  his 
superiority  on  the  battlefield. 
34330      15341 


11 

A  supreme  sense  of  duty  was  the  cardinal  trait  of  char* 
acter  which  gave  to  him  that  moral  power  against  which  it  is 
vain  to  hurl  trained  legions  and  endless  battalions.  It  was  the 
dauntless  moral  resolution  of  the  soldiers  of  the  South  which 
made  their  great  deeds  possible. 

Without  that  moral  power  to  sustain  them,  the  incomparable 
legions  of  Lee  would  have  in  vain  struggled  for  so  long  a  time 
to  roll  back  the  tide  of  invasion  across  the  banks  of  the  Potomac, 
and  the  marvelous  campaigns  of  Stonewall  Jackson  would  have 
found  no  place  in  history  to  gild  forever  with  a  romantic  luster 
the  beautiful  valley  of  Virginia.  Neither  famine  nor  pestilence 
nor  mighty  armies  carrying  in  their  track  the  destruction  of  all 
that  was  near  and  dear  to  them  could  subdue  their  invincible 
will.  In  the  splendid  future  which  awaits  the  southern  portion 
of  this  Republic  there  is  no  character  the  study  of  which  will 
more  elevate  its  citizens  and  fit  them  for  its  blessings  than  that 
of  the  Confederate  soldier.  The  capstone  of  the  arch  of  his 
glory  was  the  moral  power  which  sustained  him  upon  the  battle 
field  and  which  will  forever  perpetuate  his  fame. 

An  incident  which  illustrates  the  supreme  sense  of  duty  which 
can  only  be  imparted  by  moral  firmness,  as  exhibited  by  a 
North  Carolina  soldier,  deserves  to  be  recorded  amidst  the 
feats  of  heroes.  The  conduct  of  a  private  by  the  name  of  Till- 
man, in  the  Forty-fourth  North  Carolina  Regiment,  had  at- 
tracted the  favorable  notice  of  his  brigade  commander,  and  he 
was  at  his  request  attached  to  the  color  guard.  Tillman's  name 
was  also  honorably  mentioned  in  orders  of  the  day  from 
brigade  headquarters.  Soon  thereafter,  in  front  of  Peters- 
burg, the  regiment  became  severely  engaged  with  the  enemy  and 
suffered  heavy  loss.  The  flag  several  times  fell,  as  its  bearers 
were  shot  down  in  quick  succession.  Tillman  seized  it  and 
again  carried  it  to  the  front.  It  was  but  an  instant  and  he, 
too,  fell.  As  one  of  his  comrades  stooped  to  raise  the  flag 
again,  the  dying  soldier  touched  him  and  in  tones  made  weak 
by  the  approach  of  death  said,  "  Tell  the  general  that  I  died 
with  the  flag."  The  tender  memories  and  happy  associations 
connected  with  his  boyhood's  home  faded  from  his  vision  as  he 
34336 — 15341 


12 

rejoiced    in    the    consciousness    that    he    had    proved    himself 
worthy  of  the  trust  which  had  been  confided  to  him. 

Wolfe  died  upon  the  heights  of  Abraham  the  death  of  a  hero, 
and  his  spirit  took  its  flight  to  another  world  and  left  as  a 
legacy  to  his  countrymen  words  which  will  forever  live. 

Nelson,  at  Trafalgar,  illustrated  by  his  conduct  and  speech 
his  supreme  sense  of  duty  to  England  and  her  glory. 

The  Scotchman  who  died  at  Waterloo  with  his  bagpipe  in 
his  hand,  by  the  sabre  of  the  curassier  of  the  guard,  whilst 
thinking  of  Ben  Lothian  and  playing  an  air  of  his  native  land, 
has  been  immortalized  by  Victor  Hugo.  But  which  of  these 
three — aye,  who  of  all  those  who  live  in  song  and  story — is 
more  worthy  of  the  crown  of  immortality  than  that  humble 
country  lad  whose  grave  to-day  is  unnoticed  and  unknown? 

It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  attempt  to-night  to  give  a  record 
of  the  achievements  of  North  Carolina  soldiers  upon  the  differ- 
ent fields  of  their  glory.  There  was  not  an  engagement  in 
which  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  participated  in  which  they 
did  not  contribute  to  its  immortal  renown.  The  day  has  come 
when  our  whole  united  country  accords  to  them  the  full  meas- 
ure of  praise  to  which  they  are  entitled  as  representing  the 
highest  and  best  type  of  American  manhood. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark,  of 
North  Carolina ;  to  Hon.  Henry  A.  London ;  and  to  Capt.  S.  A. 
Ashe  for  assistance  in  securing,  as  far  as  it  can  be  furnished 
with  accuracy,  a  statement  of  the  number  of  troops  furnished 
by  North  Carolina  and  their  losses.  I  have  used  for  reference 
the  History  of  North  Carolina  Regiments,  edited  by  Chief 
Justice  Clark,  to  which  work  he  gave  great  and  unstinted 
labor  without  renumeration  or  reward,  except  the  gratitude  of 
the  Confederate  soldier.  I  have  also  been  aided  by  the  infor- 
mation gained  from  an  eloquent  speech  of  Hon.  Henry  A.  Lon- 
don, of  North  Carolina,  delivered  by  him  a  few  years  ago,  which 
was  reproduced  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  History  of  North 
Carolina  Regiments,  and  by  the  report  of  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe, 
of  North  Carolina,  made  to  the  North  Carolina  Literary  and 
Historical  Association. 
3433G— 15341 


13 

For  the  splendid  organization  which  equipped  and  supplied 
North  Carolina  troops,  they  are  largely  indebted  to  the  provi- 
dent foresight,  practical  business  ability,  and  untiring  efforts 
of  Gov.  Z.  B.  Vance,  the  great  war  governor  of  their  State, 
who  thereby  endeared  himself  forever  to  all  North  Carolinians. 

North  Carolina  not  only  clothed  her  own  troops  during  the 
entire  war,  but  furnished  clothing  for  troops  from  other  States, 
and  when  Lee's  army  surrendered  had  in  store  and  ready  for 
use  92,000  suits  of  uniform,  with  many  thousand  blankets  and 
a  large  amount  of  leather.  During  the  winter  succeeding  the 
battle  of  Chickamauga,  North  Carolina  sent  to  Gen.  Longstreet's 
corps  14,000  suits  of  clothing,  and  when  the  great  drama  was 
drawing  to  a  close  North  Carolina  was  furnishing  food  and  sup- 
plies to  a  large  part  of  Lee's  army. 

Gov.  Vance  in  a  memorable  speech  delivered  at  White  Sulphur 
Springs,  W.  Va.,  18th  of  August,  1875,  stated  that  he  was  told 
by  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnson  "  that  when  his  army  was  sur- 
rendered at  Greensboro  he  had  in  his  depots  at  North  Carolina, 
gathered  in  the  State,  five  months'  supplies  for  65,000  men  and 
that  for  many  months  previous  Gen.  Lee's  army  had  been  almost 
entirely  fed  from  North  Carolina." 

For  the  comfort  of  her  soldiers  when  at  home  sick,  wounded, 
or  traveling  to  and  from  the  army  North  Carolina  established 
hospitals  and  inns  at  many  different  points  in  the  State  along 
the  lines  of  railway. 

She  did  more  than  this.  For  the  helpless  wives  and  children 
of  soldiers  who  might  be  in  distress  she  established  depots  of 
grain,  salt,  and  provisions  for  their  subsistence  and  appointed 
committees  to  provide  for  them  and  see  that  they  were  not 
neglected. 

The  soldier  who  was  sleeping  upon  some  field  afar  off  under 
the  stars  in  northern  Virginia  rested  calmly  as  he  dreamed  of 
the  loved  ones  at  homes  for  he  knew  that  if  he  fell  in  the  con- 
flict of  to-morrow  that  they  would  be  cared  for  by  the  great  State 
which  sent  him  to  the  battle  field. 

My  friends,  can  you  wonder  that  North  Carolina  is  still  to  all 
her  children  the  well-beloved  mother  and  sovereign,  whose  name 
3433G— 13341 


14 

ever  brings  to  them  when  exiled  from  home  by  the  decree  of 
fate  that  poetry  of  youth  and  memory  of  early  happy  days  which 
neither  gold  nor  power  nor  place  can  buy. 

If  commemorative  words  were  needed  to  perpetuate  the  fame 
of  the  Confederate  soldier,  I  should  be  all  unhappy  here  to-night. 
But  it  is  not  so.  It  will  live,  transmitted  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration, when  the  costliest  tombs  erected  by  the  love  of  their 
countrymen  have  perished  by  decay  and  crumbled  into  dust. 

It  may  not  seem  proper  for  me  to  make  this  prediction,  but  I 
do  so  with  a  reverent  love  for  all  portions  of  this  great  Republic. 
The  day  will  come,  though  I  trust  it  may  be  far  distant,  when  the 
intentions  and  ideas  of  the  founders  of  this  great  Government 
will  be  disregarded  by  those  who,  in  the  wild  greed  for  money 
and  amidst  the  dissolute  luxury  engendered  by  the  vast  accumu- 
lation of  wealth,  have  forgotten  the  teachings  of  better  and  purer 
days  and  the  very  existence  of  a  constitutional  form  of  govern- 
ment, as  framed  by  our  ancestors,  will  be  in  jeopardy.  Then  will 
be  found  amongst  a  people  regenerated  by  fire  and  blood  that 
high  and  broad  and  lofty  patriotism  which  shall  constitute  them 
the  strongest,  safest,  and  best  defenders  of  the  land  of  our 
fathers  in  its  entirety,  and  as  the  suffering  and  oppressed  of 
every  land  and  every  clime  shall  still  turn  their  steadfast  gaze 
toward  this  Western  Hemisphere  they  shall  rise  up  and  call  you 
blessed. 

Have  we  learned  naught  from  the  silent  endurance,  the  patient 
agony,  the  deathless  valor  of  the  Confederate  soldier?  It  can 
not  be.  His  life  and  his  conduct  have  taught  us  the  lesson  over 
again  which  history  has  ever  repeated. 

It  is  neither  on  the  greatest  fields  of  battle  nor  places  where 
the  most  calamitous  bloodshed  has  taken  place  that  the  recol- 
lection of  future  ages  is  chiefly  riveted.  It  is  moral  grandeur 
which  produces  a  durable  impression.  It  is  patriotic  heroism 
which  permanently  attracts  the  admiration  of  mankind.  The  day 
may  come  when  the  memory  of  the  fields  of  Gettysburg  and 
Chancellorsville,  of  Fredericksburg  and  Sharpsburg,  shall  be 
dimmed  by  the  obscurity  of  revolving  years  and  recollected  only 
as  a  shadow  of  ancient  days,  but  even  then  the  enduring  forti- 
3433G— 15341 


15 

tude  and  patriotic  valor  of  the  Confederate  soldier  who  fol- 
lowed the  banner  of  Eobert  E.  Lee  and  Stonewall  Jackson  will 
stand  forth  in  undecaying  luster  amidst  the  wreck  of  ages  and 
survive  unshaken  above  the  floods  of  time. 

Friends  and  comrades,  let  us  never  fail  to  defend  the  fame 
and  achievements  of  the  brave  men  whom  the  South  sent  to  the 
battle  field. 

Death,  which  destroys  the  pomp  and  power  of  this  world,  has 
only  placed  the  seal  of  immortality  upon  their  lives.  The  sacred 
charge  of  their  fame  is  intrusted  to  3-011,  my  countrymen  and 
countrywomen.  Guard  it  devoutly,  gravely,  justly,  and  truly, 
that  it  may  remain  untarnished  in  its  pristine  glory,  not  alone 
with  this  generation  but  with  all  those  who  may  come  after  us 
until  time  shall  be  no  more.  Let  the  glorious  example  left  by 
them  be  preserved  for  untold  ages  and  for  every  people  from  the 
rising  to  the  setting  sun.  If  history  be  false,  let  tradition  pre- 
serve it,  and  on  every  anniversary  of  our  memorial  days  let 
eloquence  proclaim  it  as  a  heritage  for  all  humanity,  which  it 
has  elevated  and  adorned  with  a  pathos  and  glory  which 
belongs  to  the  civilized  world. 
3433C— 15341 

o 


is 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032758034 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


'■     ,  ■  '  .  ,   .  ;  ,        .        ,      '. 


